Megyn Kelly’s Guide to Surrendering to Donald Trump

"You are so powerful," Megyn Kelly, of Fox, said to Donald Trump, with a note of wonder in her voice, as she interviewed him for her special on Tuesday night. They were sitting in a conference room on a high floor, with a view of Central Park behind them, the proper backdrop for an interview characterized by a soft deferral to the grandeur of Trump. Kelly had, in the moments before, remembered his angry response, after she asked a question at the first Republican Presidential debate about his past comments disparaging women. It had caused a "firestorm," and Trump was the fire. Did he understand the profound effect that he had on people?

"I don't view myself as that," Trump said, with a modest shrug. "I view myself as a person that, like everyone else, is fighting for survival." He saw himself, as, "like, the messenger," he said. "This is a massive thing that's going on. These are millions and millions of people who have been disenfranchised from this country."

"It's true!" Kelly said. "But they're, they're listening to you. And they're taking their cue from you." Another Megyn Kelly, at another time, might have pushed him on his actual policies toward women or in other areas. This one just wanted to know if, "so close to the Oval Office," Trump would change his “tone”—and, again, if he grasped how very many people were behind him.

No worries on that score. Trump said that he had seen "the fervor" when he spoke to an audience of twenty-five thousand and realized that, although the venue had seats, his fans were standing. "I say, 'Sit down, everybody! Sit down,’ ” but the people would not. "It's a great compliment," he said. But Kelly wanted her audience to really get to know Trump. She remembered exactly where she had been when she read certain of his tweets. But where had he been when he wrote them? "I'm picturing, like, a crushed velvet smoking jacket, you know, chaise lounge, slippers . . .”

"Maybe not as fancy as that," Trump said, with the lopsided smile that tabloid photo editors sought, in the nineteen-nineties, to illustrate stories about how he was caught between Ivana and Marla (captioned, perhaps, with a quote from "John Miller," one of his fake-spokesman alter egos). “Probably a lot less fancy." Kelly looked amazed at the lack of a smoking jacket. And so it went. Crushed velvet may not have been what Trump was wearing, but it is a fair description of Kelly's questions.

It was a useless exercise, except, perhaps, for those watching from one group: Republicans looking for a script for how to surrender to Donald Trump. "Crazy Megyn" was his nickname for Kelly around the time that he suggested that "blood coming out of her wherever" had something to do with her debate questions, and when he refused to attend a debate she moderated and was accused by her employer of having a "sick obsession" with her. If Kelly could brush aside such behavior with a bright “Let’s talk about us,” then anyone could. There were a few easy steps, beginning with being the one to make the first move. She had approached him for a meeting in April. Trump told Kelly, "I have great respect for you that you were able to call me and say, 'Let's get together and let's talk.' For me, I would not have done that." Trump, in other words, will publicly scorn your resistance, but he might, if you are "nice," promote the fiction that your capitulation is a sign of good character.

Next, emphasize that, before politics muddled things, you were a fan, and remain one. (Kelly: "We were always friendly!") Then, if possible, pay tribute to the Tower. Trump praised Kelly for going there for their first meeting in April, rather than trying for "a neutral site." (Kelly: "I think the doormen are still recovering!") Mar-a-Lago or any of various Trump International Hotels or golf courses can be substituted in this step. Next, suggest that you never really meant to do him harm, sounding wounded that he would think so. (Kelly: "I thought it was a fair question. Why didn't you?") Don't flinch when he tells you that you are on probation (Trump: "This could happen again with us") or makes intrusive comments about your personal life (Trump noted that Kelly would not cut back on her work "even if they said you'd have an even better relationship with your husband—I hear it's just great”). Be in open awe of his ability to win. (This characterized Kelly's whole interview and, for that matter, Paul Ryan's speech last week.) If thoughts about the good of the country cross your mind, don't let them show.

The interview was the centerpiece of the première of what is envisioned as a series of prime-time specials called "Megyn Kelly Presents." According to the Times, the model is Barbara Walters; that is still aspirational. When the first segment with Trump ended, Kelly promised that she would come back to him—as a teaser, she showed a clip of herself exclaiming, with joyous surprise, “I knew it!” Knew what? Wait for it, after interviews with Laverne Cox, the transgender actress, whose generous good sense came as a relief following Trump; Michael Douglas, whose marriage, Kelly said she had heard, was just great (“I like Michael Douglas!” Trump, who was live-tweeting the special, posted to his followers); and Robert Shapiro, one of O.J. Simpson's defense lawyers. Shapiro was so famous, Kelly said, that John Travolta had played him in "The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story," the recent miniseries on FX. (It was based on a book by my colleague Jeffrey Toobin.) The bloody gloves found at the crime scene came up, and suddenly they were talking about the size of various people's hands, as if Marco Rubio were whispering in Shapiro’s ear. One of the themes of the O. J. series was that the prosecutors didn't comprehend that they could actually lose—it seemed so absurd, with all the facts and evidence on their side, that anyone would believe a story as flimsy as his. It never occurred to them that O. J. could win with the help of his charisma, a bundle of popular resentments, and the unlikable qualities of certain characters on the law-enforcement side. By the time they did realize it, their mistakes had added up, and it was too late to forestall his victory.

And what did Megyn Kelly know? When the special returned to Trump Tower, the Donald let it slip that, in the period when he was loudly claiming to be boycotting her on Fox News, he had, perhaps, peeked at her show. The other big news was Kelly’s unveiling of her new book, “Settle for More”—not a good slogan for the G.O.P. at the moment—which will go on sale after the election and in which, she said, “For the first time, I will speak openly about my year with Donald Trump.” So what did we just watch? “Well, that is it,” Trump tweeted after the broadcast ended. “Well done Megyn—and they all lived happily ever after! Now let us all see how ‘THE MOVEMENT’ does in Oregon tonight!” Trump won the Republican primary in Oregon with about sixty-seven per cent of the vote. Senator Ted Cruz and Governor John Kasich were still on the ballot, but Trump was, effectively, unopposed—just like he now is on Fox.

Amy Davidson Sorkin has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2014.